Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT16 S3 Q11 Explanation

A controversial program rewards prison inmates

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

A controversial program rewards prison inmates who behave particularly well in prison by giving them the chance to receive free cosmetic plastic surgery performed by medical students. The program is obviously morally questionable, both in its assumptions about what inmates might want and in its use of the prison population to train new crimes committed after release is only half that for the prison population as a whole.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Your task

Describe the reasoning error the argument actually commits.

Common trap

Answers that name a real logical flaw the argument doesn't actually make.

Winning move

Articulate the gap in the reasoning yourself, then match it to the choice that describes that gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
11.

A flaw in the reasoning of the passage is

Answer choices

  1. Trap3% picked this

    allows moral issues to be a consideration in presenting evidence about

  2. Trap13% picked this

    dismisses moral considerations on the grounds that only matters of fact

  3. Trap3% picked this

    labels the program as “controversial” instead of discussing the issues that give

  4. Trap5% picked this

    asserts that the rehabilitation of criminals is not a

  5. Correct77% picked this

    relies on evidence drawn from a sample that there is reason to

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

    Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

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